Nat responds: "That's alright, Harry. After that 1958 final, Bolton had started slipping and were ultimately relegated to the old Second Division in 1964. Writing in his 1954 autobiography Goals Galore, Lofthouse discussed his time in the mines: "The job proved to be the best I could possibly have had. he said to me always try to bang in one or two and remember, its goals that count. In a rare show of off-field bullishness, Lofthouse later remembered that he made it his sole purpose to make one particular writer eat his words even if he choked. In a football match bearing the weight of sport, politics, and differing ideologies, Lofthouse approached the pitch as though it were a battlefield, sacrificing his body (and probably a few brain cells) to win an important, poignant, and unexpected, victory for England. goals in 33 games for the Three Lions including two in the 1952 match against Austria which earned him the nickname the Lion of Vienna. When the goalkeeper tried to give Lofthouse the money for his pint, Lofthouse refused. The two co-founded the Lion of Vienna Suite community and write about Bolton Wanderers because someone has to. By 1942, all males in the United Kingdom aged 18-51 (with a few exceptions) were eligible to be conscripted by the government into wartime service. Pushing the tubs made me fitter than I had ever been before. by ReadTheLeague | May 24, 2021 | The Big Feature. Owning the public house was not the most rewarding career choice to the man who only wanted to see his boyhood club do well. On Jan. 15, 2011, Nat Lofthouse passed away quietly in his sleep in a Bolton nursing home at the age of 85. May 1958. Despite this, England won the game in a hostile country despite suffering physical battering. The phrase Lion of Vienna will be forever associated with Lofthouse. ". In 1985, at the age of 60, Lofthouse became caretaker manager at the club again and became president in 1986. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Bolton won the game 20 with Lofthouse scoring both goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day. He had been clattered by a defender as he shot and was carried from the field. His most memorable performance,. It was then more than five years until he made his league debut for the club, but he eventually played against Chelsea on 31 August 1946, when he scored twice in a 43 defeat. Caps:33 (30 goals) M4 3BG, 2023 National Football Museum. He scored both goals in the 1958 FA Cup Final, the second seeing him charge both keeper and ball over the line. Matilda is a Texan in Paris and Mark is a Georgian (the country) in New York. The Reds came close several times, including a shot that went off the post, but it was Bolton's day, and in the 50th minute Nat Lofthouse sealed that with his infamous second goal. Please enter the following information to sign up. But the Wanderers policy was that if you played for them you couldnt run a pub. For as much as Bolton Wanderers shaped him, his career and his life, he too left an indelible mark on the club, defining the team's most iconic era and playing a pivotal role in saving the club during its most ignominious age. His most memorable performance, which won him the nickname the "Lion of Vienna", was for England against Austria in May 1952. The goal he scored when coming on as substitute for the injured Tommy Taylor against Finland in Helsinki was the 29th for his country taking him past Steve Bloomer as Englands all-time leading scorer. Instead, Lofthouse honed his skills on the. Three months earlier, United had been involved in the Munich air disaster. Lofthouse wasn't very good in goal though, conceding seven goals in his first outing. That was the last moment of real glory for Lofthouse's playing career, and for Bolton as well. Club Chaplain Phil Mason added: "We are absolutely delighted with the work Sean has done; the image captures Nat perfectly - his strength both physical and mental and his great sense of purpose on and off the field. His funeral service was attended by more than 500 invited guests and members of the public. You would be very hard-pressed to find a sane person that had a negative thing to say about Nat Lofthouse. Somehow, he managed to get the shot off before colliding with the Austrian keeper. He also led his side to the FA Cup final, giving them a 2nd minute lead against Blackpool to compete a record of scoring in every round. As a result of the United States defeat in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the national team lost its confidence when playing outside their comfort zone of the Home International Championships. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Any hopes of the Three Lions traditional end-of-season tour being a relatively sedate one had been dashed in their opening game, a frustrating 1-1 draw in Florence in which Englands Italian opponents had resorted to the, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Nat Lofthouse: the Lion of Vienna and the gent of Bolton, Remembering the disaster of 1991/92, Bayern Munichs worst season in modern history, Rio, 1989: Chilean skullduggery, hidden razor blades and Brazilian flares, Brighton and Crystal Palace: the rise of a rivalry separated by 39 miles, The madness of Liverpools first foray into European competition, The tale of Queens Park: the early innovators who became last of the amateurs, Bobby Robson, Ipswich Town and a brutal quest for the 1981 treble. NAT LOFTHOUSE is a name that rings through the annals of English football history like few others. The poor performance of England against Italy almost certainly played a role in the games outcome against Austria. Lofthouse, battered and semi-conscious, was taken from the field but returned as a passenger minutes later, still proving fit enough to shoot an effort 30 yards into the goal. We don't charge goalkeepers around here.". And in an ironic twist, for all his on-field exploits, all his goals, all his charging, bulldozing, irresistible runs forward, arguably his greatest contribution to the club came long after hed retired and after his ill-fated spells as manager, when his tireless fundraising helped rescue Bolton from financial oblivion. Soon after Lofthouse's death a swell of support for a statue to be built in his memory started. In his 14 years at Bolton between . Tensions between the two countries were still high politically, and this showed in the stands and on the pitch. Nat was the youngest of four boys. On the pitch his place in the national side was gone, replaced as spearhead by Manchester Uniteds Taylor. On 22 March 1941, he made his debut for Bolton, scoring two goals in a 5-1 victory over Bury. Lofthouse would later say; The miners of Britain are the finest fellows in the world. A runner-up medal and the Footballer of the Year award came to him in 1953, and a winners medal and the FA Cup in 1958. He was forced to retire at the age of 35 because of his persistent injuries. During World War II, nearly 48,000 men served in the coal mines, the majority of which were chosen at random during the conscription process, with that number including volunteers. United played well in the first half, but their attacks were continually stopped by the Bolton defense "like waves breaking against a rock," as one commentator noted. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. I could only nod like a dim-wit. That didn't last long though, as soon as Lofthouse was placed up front and the goals flowed. Compared to the broadsheets, tabloid match reports treat the occasion as a related event to the war. As the decade wore on, the clouds began to disperse. There Lofthouse got the only goal of the first match. In the following days Weekly Dispatch, John Robertson wrote; Lofthouses first goal left me open-mouthed. For England, the Austria game provided two firsts. Posts 7,107 Likes 2 Location swindon wilts. Billy Wright had defensive prowess; Tom Finney, pinpoint crossing accuracy; Stan Matthews, a mesmeric array of tricks. His lifelong dedication to the club was not work, but a manifestation of who he was. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofsoccer_info-leader-1','ezslot_12',186,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofsoccer_info-leader-1-0');White shirts were worn by Austria and red by England. Thousands of people gather for the funeral of former Bolton Wanderers and England football legend Nat Lofthouse. Overcrowding resulted in spectators spilling over onto the touchline. In 1952-53, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. The title came from a prestigious match against Austria in 1952. Lofthouse opened the scoring but Austria came back, and with the game deadlocked at 2-2, began to exert significant pressure. But he came back before the final whistle as Nat's valiant display earned him the nickname, 'Lion of Vienna'. Despite that flirtation with a move to Spurs (they came back in for him a second time in 1954 but were again rebuffed) and an audacious attempt by Fiorentina to take him to Italy, Lofthouse remained a one-club man. The funeral was held 11 days later with 500 invited guests and members of the public inside Bolton Parish Church. He earned the nickname by leading England to victory over Austria in Vienna on 25 May 1952. Throughout the opening 20 minutes, Austria dominated, but England responded. Mr Davies recalled the significant efforts Nat had made during the early eighties to raise money to help Wanderers avoid bankruptcy. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Lofthouse, chased by the Austrian defence, carried the ball into the area and placed it past goalie Musil for the winner. Nat's time in that role also didn't go to plan and the legend was relieved of his duties in 1972. The total number of free kicks might seem insignificant today, but for soccer in the 1950s was significant. Read |Dixie Dean: footballs first great number nine. Bolton as a team were struggling to reassert themselves with their pre-war team dismantled and Foweraker retiring, and that process was made considerably more difficult by the shadow both psychological and financial cast by the Burnden Disaster, a crush that killed 33, in 1946. For the recognition of club and country, a statue stands outside Bolton's stadium. Despite this disappointment the player ended the season on a high when he was named Footballer of the Year. Disappointing loss aside, Lofthouse scored the first goal of the match just 75 seconds in, meaning he scored in every round of the competition that season. After Jackie Sewell restored the lead, Nat Lofthouse headed against the crossbar. In 1953, it all came together. This was touched on to Lofthouse on the halfway line by Finney. Around 200 fans stormed the pitch after the final whistle sounded, creating a fantastic scene. On 25 May 1952, Lofthouse earned the title 'Lion of Vienna' after scoring his second goal in England's 3-2 victory over Austria. He signed as a 14-year-old for the club in September 1939, making wartime appearances before becoming an established league star in peacetime. Bolton finished in the top half of the table for 6 of those 13 seasons. He said: I would have an hour or two off to receive coaching from George and firmly believe that these private coaching sessions played a big part in my advancement. It was something that Lofthouse would later describe as "the worst moment of his life." In the 83rd minute, Tom Finney tapped the ball to Lofthouse on the halfway line. He grew up without much in the way of material comforts; his first sight of Bolton Wanderers came after shinning up a drain pipe at the clubs Burnden Park home rather than paying the threepence for schoolboy admission. Lofthouse was in. This time he only managed to score a brace, the fourth and fifth goals in a 5-1 victory at Burnden Park. He was declared English Footballer of the Year, an accolade he was given on the eve of the famed Stanley Matthews Final in the FA Cup. A forward for Bolton Wanderers for the entirety of his career, Nat Lofthouse was an English professional footballer. After gaining eight corners to Englands none, the Austrians dominated for most of the game. Having failed to find the net in his past two internationals, a run which had scuppered more than a few promising youngsters England careers, Boltons star was aware of a concerted campaign in the press to have him replaced by Newcastles brilliant Jackie Milburn. The statue's pose was chosen by the club's fans as well as Nat Lofthouse's surviving family. The view was clearly shared by the selectors as it was back in reserve with Newcastles Jackie Milburn at the head of Englands attack. As though fate declared it, Nat's debut for Bolton's first team also came against a Bury side, on March 22, 1941. On the morning of Saturday 6 December 1947 he married Alma Foster and in the afternoon scored twice as Wanderers beat Wolves 3-2. Whilst there was no official league football in 1945-46 (Wanderers finished 3rd in the Football League North) the FA Cup was restarted. Lofthouse is rightly remembered as the archetypal one-club man, but to call him that is to do him a disservice. Only two players from Manchester United's side that lost to Aston Villa in the previous year's final took the field on May 3, 1958, Bill Foulkes and Bobby Charlton, and a further two were survivors of the disaster. His last appearance for Bolton came on Nov. 17, 1960, a draw against Birmingham, after missing all of the 1959-60 season due to an ankle injury sustained in a pre-season tour of South Africa. Both men were among the inaugural inductees to the Hall Of Fame. To open the scoring, he swiveled on his right foot and hit a volley with his left foot. Viennas Soviet Zone is home to the Praterstadion, where the match was played. To prove it, they battered England with arms, legs and heads. The youngest of four sons, Nathaniel Lofthouse was born in Bolton on 27 August 1925. The plaudits for the Lion of Vienna didn't stop after he hung up his boots though. In the following Sundays game with Austria, England was widely considered as an underdog. The climax of the match led Peskett to show his joy: This was more than any other British triumph to have befallen a side abroad this was an ending to a schoolboys story., The Daily Express Desmond Hackett writes, For Austria, it was the win they never saw coming.. By Paul Ride. As with the other definitive match of his career, the match was emotionally charged, this time due to the fact that the opponents, Manchester United, had been decimated only three months earlier in the tragic Munich Air Disaster. Harry Gregg, a survivor of the crash who would go on to be one of United's best goalkeepers ever, could only manage to deflect the shot. please support us. He was a pivotal figure in one of the true golden ages of the beautiful game, ending his career as the leading goal scorer for both his club and his country, with a reputation as one of the game's true greats. The day for Bevin Boys was a long and tough one.

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